Who,What,When,Why

I have a few questions and ill cover them like this.

Who? Who should I buy from?

What? What should I buy and how to decide what to buy.

Why? Why would you buy this from there and so on.




Lets start With Who to buy from. If your looking for a pet or a breeder who should people buy from and how to find a good breeder. Also how to find the breeder that's breeds what you looking for.

What to breed. What should I breed if at all. Or I shouldn't breed at all because the gecko you or I have aren't worth the time. Also how to decide what to breed and breed for when starting out. Some book links would be good for this too.

When? When is a good time of year to buy. I have noticed at the end of the season some baby go on sale. Or should I buy in the middle of the season.Is it better to hold your package at the post office or to your door.

Why? Why should I buy A leopard gecko. No one has to answer this question I will do this myself and you can correct me. I love Leopard geckos so many shapes and sizes whats not to love. But you should always ask yourself this question before buy to make sure you buying for the right reason.


I am trying to put together a giant care sheet for Leopard Geckos with lots of Q and A so thank you everyone for your time.

OK, I'll have a go at this.

Who: Someone with a good reputation (you can check people out on the Board of Inquiry at faunaclassifieds.com and in the business thread here). Someone whose prices you can afford. Some of the people listed at the top of the page on this forum. Someone at a reptile show who can answer your questions to your satisfaction and displays good customer service. Go to these breeders' websites, look at what they have and how much they want for it.

What to breed: Get familiar enough with the morphs out there to know what you like. Buy good quality geckos with known genetics. Have the equipment you need (incubator, caging for hatchlings, food). Have the resources to take geckos to the vet if necessary. Have some ideas about how to sell the geckos you produce.
Whether to breed: Good question. Only you can decide, but here are some guiding questions:
Do you have enough money, space and time to devote?
Are you going to want to be spending your summers (prime hatching time) feeding a lot of little geckos?
Are you communicative and creative enough to sell your geckos, sometimes by force of personality?
Are you going to get tired of this after a season?

When: Any time. Although the breeding season is generally late winter to late summer, people are breeding (leopard) geckos all year round. If you're depending on shipping to receive your gecko, you'll be much more limited in the winter months. I have received packages at home and at the post office (actually, Fedex hub) and either works fine.

In general, you will have to decide what you like and buy accordingly.

There are a lot of care sheets out there, so read a bunch and decide whether you can contribute something that hasn't already been done.

You may want to read some Gecko Time articles I and others have written during the last few years:

How to Sell Your Geckos - Gecko Time - Gecko Time
The Joys and Sorrows of Reptile Breeding - Gecko Time - Gecko Time
Guide to Breeding Leopard Geckos on a Small Scale - Gecko Time - Gecko Time
Breeding on a Small Scale Revisited - Gecko Time - Gecko Time

Aliza

Awsome thanks

To build off what Aliza mentioned-

Who: Some breeders will know enough to tell you what the animal is, and what the parents are, but ideally, find someone willing to go the extra mile and give grandparents as well. Most hobby breeders you will find to buy from have no problem building friendships off of sales. In fact, the breeder I bought one of my first quality animals from remains one of my good friends in the hobby, nearly a year later. If someones responses throw you off, or they seem bothered by your time, that speaks wonders to me about their personality.

What: Like Aliza mentioned, what you breed is entirely up to you. Look at various morphs and combinations and see what catches your eye, and what you'd like to see popping out of the eggs.
But before deciding to put a pair together, do plenty of research on the various traits, and basic genetics. Watching a good number of genetics videos and reviewing Mendelian genetics will be priceless in the long-run.
And while planning out pairings, keep in mind that females will lay anywhere from 1-9 clutches of 2 eggs, per season. So for every female you pair, you need to have the resources to house all of those babies. NEVER anticipate them all selling as soon as you list them. Plan as if you will have to keep them all.

When: Like you mentioned, people often have sales in the fall, approaching the winter months. But throughout the year, many breeders will hold auctions as well, which are a great opportunity to try and get nice animals for below retail prices. And the downside to waiting until the later months, is that most of the top notch babies have been snagged up.